April 17, 2012

Polsinelli Shughart Takes on PhRMA to Lobby on Tax Issues

Updated at 4:21 p.m.

Polsinelli Shughart last week notified Congress it is lobbying for the leading U.S. trade group for brand-name drug makers.

The firm is advocating for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) on "tax issues related to the deductibility of advertising costs," according to a lobbying registration report. Polsinelli partner James Davidson, the chairman of the firm's public policy practice group, is handling the account.

Davidson said PhRMA's return to The Advertising Coalition prompted the lobbying registration. He is the director of the Coalition, which consists of trade groups that represent broadcast companies, ad agencies and other businesses involved with advertising. Davidson last lobbied for PhRMA in 2010, according to congressional records.

"We're just glad to have them back," Davidson said.

The U.S. tax code allows pharmaceutical companies and other business to deduct costs associated with advertising. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) last year introduced legislation that would end the deductions drug makers get for their advertising expenses. The bill, which he also offered in the last Congress, is still waiting for a vote in the House Ways and Means Committee.

In the last Congress, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) and then-Rep. Marion Berry (D-Ark.) also introduced bills that would prohibit the deductions. But those measures and the Nadler bill from the last Congress never made it out of committee.

PhRMA in 2011 spent $18.79 million on federal government advocacy work done by its own staffers and outside lobbyists, according to congressional records. The organization used more than two dozen outside firms, including Arnold & Porter, Covington & Burling and Hogan Lovells.

Davidson, a DTC (Direct-To-Consumer) Advertising Hall of Fame member, lobbied last year for groups that included the American Advertising Federation, American Association of Advertising Agencies and Association of National Advertisers.